


Above the Ground

by choppedmint (forevermint)



Series: The Road Not Taken [18]
Category: The Morganville Vampires - Rachel Caine
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:08:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21642691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forevermint/pseuds/choppedmint
Summary: ORIGIN "Embarrassment: Above the Ground": This story had no point other than some bonding time between Arthur and Myrnin. Myrnin continued attempts to hide he is a vampire is also pretty clear here. But really I just wanted to write something that wasn’t sad.
Relationships: Myrnin (Morganville Vampires)/Arthur Dee
Series: The Road Not Taken [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1558276





	Above the Ground

“You have got to be kidding me,” said Myrnin, looking up.

“I’m really now,” said Arthur with a sigh. His arms were crossed, though it hardly made a difference, considering his hands are almost always covered.

“I can’t get up there!” said Myrnin, wildly swinging his arms to illustrate his words. “I’ll break my neck!”

Arthur tilted a bit, looking to his left and raising his eyebrows. “Uh huh. Can’t get up there.”

“You make it sound like I’m lying,” Myrnin wined, a guttural sound that made Arthur wince as it hit his eardrums the wrong way.  
“I’ve seen you get out of worse places,” Arthur said dryly. “I’ve seen you disappear out of the best corners. I highly doubt this is any different.”

“But …” Myrnin sounded so hesitant.

Arthur rested his face in cloth covered hands. “Look,” he said into them. “I don’t know about you, but if you suddenly grew a sense of direction that is _great_ , but I don’t see you using it. So, if you’d like to climb up to take a look, then I’d be ever so grateful. Does that convince you?”

He lowered his hands and realized he was talking to a patch of empty air. He stared at it blankly and then looked all around before looking up. And Myrnin was standing on the roof of one of the houses, looking around like it wasn’t a big deal. Arthur looked up at him, exasperated. He would have said something, but Myrnin looked down and said, “If you were going to get us lost, I just thought it fair to give you a chance to find our way back.”

Arthur’s jaw dropped, then moved it up and down several times as he tried to bite down his words. It didn’t work.

“Me? _Me?_ Who was the one who dragged me down a random alley because you’d thought ‘it would be cool?’ I don’t believe I ever said anything like that.”

“You’re right,” said Myrnin, peering around. “It was very out of character for you to do that.”

Arthur muttered a couple choice words under his breath, looking around to see if anyone around had heard that. But, of course, they hadn’t, because there was no one around. He would have asked for directions if there had been.

There was a very strong temptation to bury his head in his hands again. “Do you see anything?” he asked.

“Does an ugly seagull count?” speculated Myrnin. “Hardly looks like it would feed a small cat.”

“Besides the seagull?” asked Arthur, feeling like he had to be the most patient man in existence around Myrnin.

“The river’s a pretty good landmark,” admitted the other man. “And I think I can see the main street. Or at least it’s a major one.” He pointed back in the direction they’d come. “Looks like labyrinth that way though.”

He looked down then, meeting Arthur’s eyes. He had an expression on his face that Arthur knew. It was the one that made his heart rate go up and he knew he was doomed. “What?” he said, knowing he didn’t want the answer. “What’s your idea?”

“I mean … if you could come up here … we could get there easily.”

“No,” Arthur flat out stated, crossing his arms again. “No. Not on your life. I don’t do heights. And that’s someone else’s house. The roofs aren’t exactly stable.”

“Awww,” said Myrnin, looking disappointed as he crouched at the edge of the roof. “Come one. It’s fun, really! I’ve done it before. Do you honestly want to be stranded out in the middle of nowhere?”

“Instead of getting a broken bone from falling off a roof? Yes, I would,” Arthur insisted. “That sort of thing would hurt. Nope. Not doing it.”

Myrnin dangled his arm off the side of the roof. “Come on Arthur Dee. I’d catch you before you fell. I just don’t want to stay here all night.”

Gah! He was infuriating. He’d stay up there begging into the night if Arthur didn’t say yes. He took several steps forward, looking up, and frowning. “Well, how do I get up?”

“Just grab my hand,” said Myrnin, which was ridiculous, because there was no way he could pull Arthur up by that alone.  
But then, maybe Arthur would pull him down. And what did he have to lose?

He jumped, grabbing Myrnin’s hand. But before he could get a good grip, his fingers slipped thanks to the trailing sleeves getting in the way. Myrnin’s other hand gripped Arthur’s wrist, moving so fast Arthur didn’t see it. Just as quickly, it seemed, his feet were firmly resting on top of the roof.

“Not so hard,” said Myrnin brightly. “Said I’d catch you, right?”

“Yeah,” said Arthur, looking to the left and ignoring the fact that he was balanced high above the ground and had nearly fallen back to it. His wrist and arm hurt a little bit, but the drop would have at least twisted an ankle. He could, at least from where he was now, pick out the road Myrnin mentioned. It looked a fair distance off.

Myrnin blocked his view, dancing along the edge of the roof as if it was the same height as a regular street. “Come on Arthur Dee. There are a few places where you have to _jump_ too.”

Arthur groaned.

**Author's Note:**

> ORIGIN "Embarrassment: Above the Ground": This story had no point other than some bonding time between Arthur and Myrnin. Myrnin continued attempts to hide he is a vampire is also pretty clear here. But really I just wanted to write something that wasn’t sad.


End file.
